Monday, September 1, 2014

2014 - AUG - Animal Attacks

Quote: "Darshana Shivram Bhoir, a resident of a tribal hamlet on the foothills of a mountain close to the village, was playing with her four-year-old brother outside her house around 8.30 am on Wednesday, when a leopard jumped across a 10-foot wide stream next to her house, bit into her neck and disappeared into the bushes with her."

Quote: "Villagers say the incident has come as a huge shock to them as Ghoong has not seen an attack on a human being by a wild animal in a decade."

Quote: "A senior official told mid-day that the chances of finding Darshana's body were very slim now as the animal that attacked her must have eaten all of her in five days."

Quote: "She said she managed to smash some of the animal's teeth during the struggle. 'I fought head on with it for almost half an hour. Then I came to know it was dead,' she told reporters from hospital in the nearby town of Srinagar Garhwal. Doctors were surprised she had survived."

Quote: "The raccoon bit her elbow, hand, forearm, lip and chin, police said. 'She’s a tough old bird,” said the victim’s son, Malcolm McKernan. “She fought it off and was able to call on the phone. That’s pretty remarkable.' The raccoon also charged at two officers when they arrived on scene."

Quote: "A wave of attacks by bees in Abyei resulted in dozens of bee stings and forced at least one school to shut its doors. Alor Kor Deng, a teacher at Comboni School, told Radio Tamazuj that the bees caused panic and fear among residents and that children ran away from the school, leading to a temporary halt of educational activities. Several local residents also complained to Radio Tamazuj of the rise in swarms of bees."

Quote: "A fisherman has been killed by a rare 15ft crocodile called Michael Jackson as his wife looked on."

Quote: "The attack took place in a stretch of the river close to where cruise ships show sightseers crocodiles leaping from the water to snatch chicken carcasses suspended from poles. The killer crocodile is believed to be a rare half-albino who had regularly approached the cruise ships."

Quote: "Police say they responded to a 911 call and saw a dog attacking a woman. They tried to get the dogs off and when they couldn't, officers shot them. They say the woman was shielding a 2-year-old from the dogs, but police say that toddler was still badly injured. An 8-year-old was also had a minor injury."

Quote: "The investigation turned up paw prints, a small blood trail and a broken fence where the mountain lion jumped over. The resident who originally saw the cougar said the mountain lion has been seen in the area before and seemed to have little fear of people."

Quote: "Their neighbor, who lives a distance away, happened to hear the screams. When came up on the attack, he grabbed his gun from his pickup and shot both dogs. Josie's mother, Heidi Cooley, heard the shots. 'Even standing at the door and seeing the dogs and seeing Michael with the gun shooting them, I still didn't put it together that she could be being attacked by the dogs,' said Cooley. The family said they may never know what sparked the unusual attack."

Quote: "A pack of ravenous wolves plunged a remote grasslands village in Xinjiang, the far-western region of China, into terror on Monday night with a rare summertime attack. By the time the wolves made their escape into the night, six villagers were left injured: lacerated by claws and teeth. The five wolves, thought to have been enticed by the scent of the sheep kept by the villagers, stole into the village of Kalazhuole at 2am. Their low howling woke the inhabitants, who rushed out to protect the flock but found themselves confronting a pack too hungry to be easily deterred."

Note: From the full hypothesis: "Predators will attempt to adapt to the changes in the biosphere and may turn to our pets or to us as analternate source ofnutrition."

Note: If this sounds familiar, it's because a tiger snatched a man off a boat and dragged him away in the Sunderbans in late June too, mentioned in the 2014-06-26 update. I don't know if tigers have always done this or whether this is a tactic they have learned more recently. It seems perfectly suited for hunting helpless people on small boats, who have no way to escape...

Quote: "Houston police responded to a burglary alarm at a smoke shop east of Humble overnight, resulting in a search for the suspect. During the search, a Harris County Pct. 4 police dog bit an Houston Police Department officer on his elbow. The officer was taken to the Kingwood Medical Center for treatment."

Quote: "A 1-year-old girl is recovering from severe facial injuries she suffered in a dog attack in Racine. Police say the girl was visiting her grandparents Tuesday evening when she was suddenly attacked by their dog."

Quote: "Beth was getting ready to water his lawn around 7 p.m., when he was attacked by a K-9, trained as a police dog. 'Seemed like a long time but probably wasn't five minutes at least,' Beth said. 'That's a long time when you're being attacked by a police dog.'"

Quote: "Pandemonium broke out yesterday when a swarm of Africanized bees attacked an East Coast Demerara family, injuring an infant and two other persons. Maureen Mc Almond of Lot 72 Rabindra Street, Annandale recounted that around 10:00 a.m. she was at home with her children when she saw her neighbour running from his back yard. He was weeding at the time. 'I didn't know why he was running until the swarm started to enter my windows and attack my children.'"

Quote: "'I started making noises at them, screaming at them, yelling at them — nothing. They would not respond. They stood their ground,' Mendoza said. 'I started backing up and they started advancing.' That’s when Mendoza got really scared, worrying he wouldn’t be able to get his dogs inside before an attack."